ACM Volunteer Structure

1. ACM Volunteer Structure Joe Konstan SGB Chair

2. Goals for this Session • Overview of volunteer leadership structure for all of ACM • know where decisions are made • know where to go with ideas/needs • know how things work to explain to your members • Specific details on the SGB and SIG governance • how to get things done

3. Before We Start • Congratulations! • You are now “They”

4. Starting at the Top • ACM Council (Board of Directors) • Five Executive Committee Members • President (Stu Feldman) • vice-President (Wendy Hall) • Secretary-Treasurer (Alain Chenais) • Past-President (Dave Patterson) • SGB Chair (Joe Konstan) • Pubs Board Chair (Ron Boisvert) • 3 SGB-elected Representative • Bob Walker, Norm Jouppi, Alex Wolf • 7 Representatives elected at-large by membership

5. Council and the EC • Council is the final authority on all ACM policy decisions, approves all major new initiatives, approves the annual budget, etc. • The ACM EC is charged with operational volunteer governance. • In practice, both groups usually add other Board chairs to their meetings

6. ACM’s Boards • SIG Governing Board • Publications Board • Membership Services Board • Professions Board • Education Board • and Education Council

7. ACM’s Committees • Audit • Awards • Coalition to Diversity Computing • Committee on Women in Computing • Computers and Public Policy • Constitution and Bylaws • Computer Science Teachers Association

8. ACM’s Committees • Nominating • Elections • Committee on Professional Ethics • Committee on ACM History • ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest • USACM Committee

9. When Are They Involved? • Some SIG/SGB activities go to the ACM EC or Council for approval: • some by-laws changes • annual budgets (in aggregate) • large actions (e.g., large conference budgets, SIG dissolution) • named awards • Plus, Council Policies apply to SIGs along with the rest of ACM

10. When Are They Involved? • Some “SIG” activities are actually done by, or are best coordinated with, others: • journals and magazines • chapters • awards • public policy • non-SGB programs value SIG participation • awards, publications, professions, …

11. Drilling Down to the SGB • Who is the SGB? • The leaders of each SIG • Voting for all SIGs “not in transition” • 1 vote plus 1 per 1000 members • What does the SGB do? • Collective management • setting policies (e.g., required fund balances) • policies governing ACM conferences • creation/review/oversight of SIGs

12. The SGB EC • Executive Committee Members • Chair (Joe Konstan) • Past Chair (Bob Walker) • Director of SIG Services (Donna Cappo) • Appointed Publications Liaison (Keith Marzullo) • 6 elected members at-large assigned to roles • VC for Operations (Vicki Hanson) • VC for SIG Development (Jamie Callan) • Secretary (Diana Marculescu) • Conference Advisor (Julie Jacko) • Small SIG Advisor (Jack Davidson) • Large SIG Advisor (Scott Owen)

13. Role of the SGB Chair and EC • Prepare agendas and (sometimes) recommendations for SGB meeting • Handle SGB business between meetings (subject to SGB review) • Handle a wide range of “routine” requests specifically delegated to Chair or EC • replacement of officers for some SIGs • by-laws change review • pre-review of issues for ACM EC • Plus whatever else is needed

14. Collective Governance • Examples • The Allocation • DL Revenue and its Distribution • The Program Review Process • Best Practices

15. The Allocation • One collective obligation of the SIGs is to pay for a portion of ACM’s operations costs • debunk favorite myths here • total amount for FY 2008 is $2.52M • Collective design (and refinement) of allocation formula (sliding scale with minimum) to pay for these costs

16. DL Revenue and its Distribution • SIG content (conference proceedings) are a major component of the ACM DL • Many SIGs made substantial investments in scanning older proceedings to help boost DL in early years • Revenue-sharing arrangement where SGB receives a percentage of DL revenue (budgeted estimate for FY 2008 is $1.8M) • Collective decision to divide this based on downloads, but with a minimum per SIG

17. Program Reviews • Each SIG faces regular program reviews by the SGB (at least every 4 years) • SIG prepares a 5-slide summary of activity • SGB EC performs an initial review, gives feedback to SIG, and makes a recommendation • SIG leader presents to SGB which makes final decision • Opportunity for collective advice and guidance • Recent examples include: strong encouragement to move a newsletter online; concerns about volunteer development; concerns about declining student membership

18. Best Practices • At each SGB meeting there is time set aside for Q&A and for sharing successful practices • Many SIG leaders find this to be the most valuable part of the meeting! • One recent effort led to a streamlined bylaws process • it became clear that many SIGs were finding longer terms, different EC structures valuable • now this process makes it possible to make a range of changes without a formal membership vote (but with member notification) • 3 deadlines per year for these changes

19. Other Responsibilities to Take Seriously • Annual Reporting • Volunteer and Leadership Development • Community-Building • Sustainable Excellence

20. Questions?